Apparatus for and method of rolling articles

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to methods and apparatus for forming annular articles such as the outer bearing races for taper roller bearings which are profiled internally and in a radial plane of the members. The material is rolled on to a multipart mandrel and is cut therefrom. The mandrel parts are removed individually.

United States Patent 11 1 Marcovitch Jan. 29, 1974 [54] APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF 1,941,046 12/1933 Prahl 113/120 N 'ROLLING ES. 653,913 7/1900 Heggie 29/ 148.4 R 1,459,409 6/1923 McQuaid 29/l48 4 R [75] Inv nt r: Ja Marcovltch, hann s urg, 2,441,580 5/1948 Mageoch 10/86 F South Africa 3,299,680 l/l967 Th0mps0n.... 72/80 602,926 4/1898 Zuhlke 72/83 [73] Asslgnee f Anstalt Vanduz, 2,368,973 2 1945 Dewey 72/81 Llechtenstem 3,120,137 2/1964 Braatz 72/361 App! 7 Primary Examiner-Richard J. Herbst Related U.S. Application Data Attorney, Agent, or Firmlrvin S. Thompson [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 2,060, Jan. 12, 1970,

abandoned.

[57] ABSTRACT F 72/ 35241 55 This invention relates to methods and apparatus for [58] Fie'ld 47C 156 62 forming annular articles such as the outer bearing 29/417 832/70 6 d 82 races for taper roller bearings which are profiled internally and in a radial plane of the members. The material is rolled on to a multipart mandrel and is cut [56] References'cited therefrom. The mandrel parts are removed individu- UNITED STATES PATENTS Richman 72/70 ally.

6 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 2,060, filed Jan. 12, 1970, now abandoned.

This invention relates to apparatus for and methods of rolling articles.

This invention is concerned with apparatus and methods of making by rolling annular members such as the outer bearing races for taper roller bearings which are profiled internally and in a radial plane of the members.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided apparatus for rolling such members comprosing a former formed from a plurality of annular parts that are arranged side by side and means for rolling a tube of material on to the mandrel. A pull rod extending through all the parts may be provided to hold them together. Alternatively the apparatus may comprise push members to hold the parts tightly in side-by-side relationship during rolling. The former may be a mandrel for shaping the material internally or it may comprise a housing for shaping material externally.

The means for rolling the tube is preferably as described in my co-pending U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 882,367 filed Dec. 15, 1969 or where the mandrel is short as described in our my U.S. Pat. No. 3,466,912 and in this way it is possible, although not necessary, to shape both the inside and outside of the workpiece. Ac cording to another aspect of this invention there is provided a method of rolling such members comprising cating a tube of material around a mandrel as set out above, rolling the material of the tube on to the mandrel and then separating the members from the rolled tube. The mandrel parts can be removed individually during or after the separation of each part member from the tube. The members may be parted by means as described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,775. The members may alternatively be cut or press sheared from the tube.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to accompanying diagrammatic drawings which is a section through apparatus of the invention, the part of the section on theleft hand side of the drawing showing means for rolling single cups and the part on the right hand side showing means for rolling double cups or double races.

Referring now to the drawing there is shown apparatus for rolling single and doubles races for bearings, conveniently of the taper roller type. The apparatus comprises a number of annular former parts 10 through the central opening 12 of which there passes a rod 14 that locates these members 10. The outside surfaces 16 of the members 10 are profiled to a shape complementary to that which is desired to impose upon the races.

v members 18 may also be rotatable. It will be noted that .due to the profiling of the surfaces 16 of the members .10, the outer surface of the mandrel 22 formed from the parts 10 is in the form of a non-cylindrical surface of revolution Prior to insertion between the press members 18 the mandrel 22 is threaded through a tubular blank. The mandrel 22 with the blank in position thereon is placed in the apparatus and pressure is applied to the ends of the members 10 by the push members 18. The blank is rolled by means of rollers 24 which roll against grooved cylindrical backing surfaces 26 which surround the mandrel and workpiece. ,The end of the trailing stub axle of each roller 24 bears against orbiting thrust members 27 within a groove in the backing surface 26. The push members 18 are subject to different pressures so that the mandrel 22 and with it the workpiece are moved axially past the rollers 24. The rollers 24 are rotated so as to orbit about the workpiece and as they rotate about the workpiece the rollers force the material of the billet against the profiled surface of the mandrel 22. The outside surface of the billet is formed into a cylindrical surface 28. The workpiece when completed appears as shown in the drawings. The workpiece 30 'will normally be formed by a single pass through the throat defined by the rollers 24. After completion of rolling, the press members 18 are removed and the mandrel 22 with the workpiece thereon'is removed. The workpiece 30, with the mandrel 22 still therein, is then presented to cutting and/or parting means. The parting means is preferably as described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,775. The parting takes place along a band indicated at 32 which in the present embodiment is opposite to a cylindrical part 33 at the larger end surface 34 of each of the parts 10. It will be seen that a shaped outer bearing race will be provided between each pair of cutting bands 32. After the various sections are parted as described above, the parts 10 are removed from the divided sections by means of suitable ejectors. To facilitate parting and to save material the former parts 10 may be shaped with a bead 50 on part 33.

The outer races will now be ready forheat treatment except for any minor operations after any burrs or the like formed during the parting operation have been removed.

When it is desired to produce double cups, i.e., outer roller races having two outwardly directed bearing surfaces, the apparatus of the invention can be used in similar manner to that described above. Here the parts 10 are arranged with their larger faces 34 and smaller faces 36 abutting. The parts 10 are threaded on to the locating rod 14 in the manner described above and are held in position by pusher members 18. The billet is rolled by rollers 24 again as described above and a workpiece 38 is formed. After rolling has been completed the workpiece is parted along bands 40 to produce the double bearing races. Here a suitable puller may be necessary to remove the parts 10 from within the shaped bearing races.

This invention is not limited to the precise constructional details hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings.

In order to enable use to be made of a commercial hollow bar which is readily available but which is usually eccentric and of varying diameter, the arrangement shown in FIG. 14 of U.S. Pat. Application Ser. No. 882,367 is preferably used. In that arrangement the finished outside diameter of part of the bar is used for alignment purposes. This arrangement would yield precise and concentric components. Similarly the arrangement of FIG. 13 of that application could be used for making larger components of a similar nature. In such arrangement the rollers would work on the inside of the bar and the housing would be formed by a plurality of dies arranged in the same way as the mandrel parts in the embodiment described above.

The housing parts or the mandrel parts may be diametrically split or may comprise removable segments to collapse or dissassemble the parts. These features too will facilitate the removal of the die or mandrel from the workpiece.

It will also be appreciated that with the mandrel parts which are split, collapsible or capable of being dissassembled, or with similar housing parts, the workpiece may be formed by rolling and no parting is necessary.

With an enlarged bead 50, the cups may be separated easily, e.g., by twisting so that the necessity of using parting means may be obviated.

The mandrel or housing may also have longitudinal fins or the like. If desired, additional annular stops may be provided independent of the push members 18 to butt against one or both of the ends of the workpiece. Preferably only one step is provided, this being at the end towards which the rollers are moving. The stop or stops will serve to control the axial flow of the material of the workpiece and in this way control the degree of inward radial flow of material. The stop or stops can be movable backwardly to allow for elongation of the workpiece in a controlled manner. Such stop or stops may be used with any apparatus as described in my U.S. Application Ser. No. 882,367. The rate of axial advance per revolution of the rollers 24 about theworkpiece axis and the inclination of the conical front faces of the rollers 24 are further factors which influence the degree of radially inward flow of the material of the workpiece.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for rolling annular metal members having a cylindrical outer surface and a tapered inner surface, comprising a plurality of identical separable annular parts in axially aligned side-by-side relation, each said part having an outer surface tapering from an end of relatively large diameter to an end of relatively small diameter, means extending through all said parts to hold them releasably together, and means to roll a metal tube down on said plurality of parts with the inner surface of the tube deformed into contact with the outer surfaces of said parts and the outer surface of the tube cylindrical, thereby to produce a plurality of axially aligned identical tapered annular surfaces on the inner surface of the tube.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said parts all tapering in the same direction.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said parts tapering in alternately opposite directions.

4. A method of forming a plurality of substantially identical annular metal members each having a cylindrical outer surface and a tapered inner surface, comprising releasably assembling a plurality of identical annular parts in axially aligned side-by-side relation, each said part having an outer surface tapering from an end of relatively large diameter to an end of relatively small diameter, rolling a metal tube down on said plurality of parts with the inner surface of the tube deformed into contact with the outer surfaces of said parts and the outer surface of the tube cylindrical, thereby to produce a plurality of axially aligned identical tapered annular surfaces on the inner surface of the tube, and severing the tube into said members about the annular zones in which said tapered annular surfaces on the inner surface of the tube most closely approach said cylindrical outer surface of the tube.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, said parts all tapering in the same direction.

6. A method as claimed in claim 4, said parts tapering in alternately opposite directions. 

1. Apparatus for rolling annular metal members having a cylindrical outer surface and a tapered inner surface, comprising a plurality of identical separable annular parts in axially aligned side-by-side relation, each said part having an outer surface tapering from an end of relatively large diameter to an end of relatively small diameter, means extending through all said parts to hold them releasably together, and means to roll a metal tube down on said plurality of parts with the inner surface of the tube deformed into contact with the outer surfaces of said parts and the outer surface of the tube cylindrical, thereby to produce a plurality of axially aligned identical tapered annular surfaces on the inner surface of the tube.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said parts all tapering in the same direction.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, said parts tapering in alternately opposite directions.
 4. A method of forming a plurality of substantially identical annular metal members each having a cylindrical outer surface and a tapered inner surface, comprising releasably assembling a plurality of identical annular parts in axially aligned side-by-side relation, each said part having an outer surface tapering from an end of relatively large diameter to an end of relatively small diameter, rolling a metal tube down on said plurality of parts with the inner surface of the tube deformed into contact with the outer surfaces of said parts and the outer surface of the tube cylindrical, thereby to produce a plurality of axially aligned identical tapered annular surfaces on the inner surface of the tube, and severing the tube into said members about the annular zones in which said tapered annular surfaces on the inner surface of the tube most closely approach said cylindrical outer surface of the tube.
 5. A method as claimed in claim 4, said parts all tapering in the same direction.
 6. A method as claimed in claim 4, said parts tapering in alternately opposite directions. 